Method for UE context and UE connection resume

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5th-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4th-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. The present disclosure provides a method for controlling a user equipment (UE) context and a UE connection, which includes: a first node obtains resume requirement information of a UE; the first node determines whether to resume the UE context, and/or, the UE connection, based on the resume requirement information of the UE. By adopting the present disclosure, overheads of signaling resources are reduced effectively, and resource utilization is improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a 371 of International Application No.PCT/KR2017/000114 filed Jan. 4, 2017, which claims priority to ChinesePatent Application No. 201610013623.1 filed on Jan. 8, 2016, thedisclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication technologies,and more particularly, to a method and device for controlling a UserEquipment (UE) context and UE connection.

2. Description of Related Art

To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased sincedeployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made todevelop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5Gor pre-5G communication system is also called a ‘Beyond 4G Network’ or a‘Post LTE System’. The 5G communication system is considered to beimplemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, soas to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of theradio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming,massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO(FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antennatechniques are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5Gcommunication systems, development for system network improvement isunder way based on advanced small cells, cloud Radio Access Networks(RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication,wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication,Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellationand the like. In the 5G system, Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) andsliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced codingmodulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonalmultiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as anadvanced access technology have been developed.

The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network wherehumans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internetof Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange andprocess information without human intervention. The Internet ofEverything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and theBig Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server,has emerged. As technology elements, such as “sensing technology”,“wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure”, “serviceinterface technology”, and “Security technology” have been demanded forIoT implementation, a sensor network, a Machine-to-Machine (M2M)communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have beenrecently researched. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligentInternet technology services that create a new value to human life bycollecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT maybe applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building,smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smartappliances and advanced medical services through convergence andcombination between existing Information Technology (IT) and variousindustrial applications.

In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5Gcommunication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such asa sensor network, Machine Type Communication (MTC), andMachine-to-Machine (M2M) communication may be implemented bybeamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Application of a cloud RadioAccess Network (RAN) as the above-described Big Data processingtechnology may also be considered to be as an example of convergencebetween the 5G technology and the IoT technology.

Modern mobile communication increasingly tends to provide users withhigh-speed transmission of multimedia services, as shown in FIG. 1,which is a system architecture diagram of system architecture evolution(SAE), wherein:

UE 101 is a terminal device supporting network protocol. EvolvedUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 102 is a wirelessaccess network, which includes an evolved NodeB (eNB)/NodeB providing awireless network interface for the UE. Mobility management entity (MME)103 is responsible for managing mobile context, session context andsecurity information about the UE. Serving Gateway (SGW) 104 mainlyprovides user plane function. The MME 103 and the SGW 104 may be in thesame physical entity. Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) 105 isresponsible for billing, lawful interception and other functions. ThePGW 105 and the SGW 104 may be in the same physical entity. Policy andcharging rules function (PCRF) entity 106 provides quality of service(QoS) policy and charging standards. Serving General Packet RadioService Support Node (SGSN) 108 is a network node device in theUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to provide routing fortransmitting data. Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 109 is the UE's homesubsystem, and is responsible for protecting the user information, suchas the current location of the UE, address of a service node, usersecurity information, packet data context of the UE and so on.

SUMMARY

Currently or in the foreseeable future, more and more electricalequipment will become intelligentized, and living peripheral productswill become interconnected, both of which have the function of access tothe network. These UEs in the Internet generally possess the followingcharacteristics: static or low mobility, low cost, generally receivingand transmitting a small amount of non-continuous data. For these UEs,signaling overheads used when establishing and releasing connections arefar greater than the amount of data received and transmitted. To savesignaling overheads, improve the efficiency of data transfer, there arestill many problems to be solved in the existing networks.

In view of above, the present disclosure provides several methods andequipment for controlling UE context and UE connection, in order toeffectively reduce overheads of signaling resources, and improveresource utilization.

The present disclosure provides a method for controlling a UE contextand a UE connection, including:

obtaining, by a first node, resume requirement information of a UE; and,

determining, by the first node, whether to resume the UE context,and/or, the UE connection, based on the resume requirement informationof the UE.

Preferably, when the first node is a control node in a core network(CN), obtaining by the first node the resume requirement information ofthe UE includes:

obtaining, by the control node in the CN, the resume requirementinformation of the UE by using at least one of the UE, an evolved Node B(eNB) or a gateway node in the CN;

wherein the method further includes:

when determining to resume the UE context, and/or, the UE connection,transmitting, by the control node in the CN, resume instructioninformation associated with the UE to the UE, the eNB and at least onenode among multiple control nodes in the CN except for the control nodein the CN.

Preferably, when the first node is an eNB, obtaining by the first nodethe resume requirement information of the UE includes:

obtaining, by the eNB, the resume requirement information of the UE fromthe UE, and/or, a control node in a CN; wherein the method furtherincludes:

when determining to resume the UE context, and/or, the UE connection,transmitting, by the eNB, the resume requirement information of the UE,or resume instruction information associated with the UE to the UE,and/or, the control node in the CN.

Preferably, when the first node is the UE, obtaining by the first nodethe resume requirement information of the UE includes:

obtaining, by the UE, the resume requirement information of the UE fromat least one of an upper layer of the UE, an eNB, a control node in aCN, or a gateway node in the CN wherein the method further includes:

when determining to resume the UE context, and/or, the UE connection,transmitting, by the UE, the resume requirement information of the UE,or resume instruction information associated with the UE, to the eNB,and/or, the control node in the CN.

Preferably, the resume requirement information of the UE includes atleast one of: transmitting requirement information of UE data, a firstUE identity, a second UE identity, UE-context resume requestinformation, or UE-connection resume request information.

Preferably, the transmission requirement information of the UE dataincludes at least one of:

control-plane data transmission requirement information, user-plane datatransmission requirement information, a data packet of a control plane,a data packet of a user plane, UE bearer information, a reason forestablishing a radio resource control (RRC); and/or, wherein the firstUE identity is to index the suspended UE context, the second UE identityis to index the UE context to be established, the first UE identity andthe second UE identity include at least one of: cell-radio networktemporary identifier (C-RNTI), serving-temporary mobile subscriberidentity (S-TMSI), international mobile subscriber identification number(IMSI), temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI), resume ID, mobilitymanagement entity (MME) UE S1 application protocol (AP) ID, eNB UE S1 APID, or globally unique temporary UE identity (GUTI); and/or, wherein theUE-context resume request information includes at least one of:

requesting to establish the UE context, or requesting not to establishthe UE context;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume the UE context on theUE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, or on the gateway node inthe CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume UE bearer context onthe UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, or on the gatewaynode in the CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume a designated UE bearercontext and UE bearer information, wherein the UE bearer information isto index the suspended UE bearer context; and/or, wherein theUE-connection resume request information includes at least one of:requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume a UE connectionbetween the UE and the eNB; requesting to resume, or requesting not toresume the UE connection between the eNB and the control node in the CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume the UE connectionbetween the eNB and the gateway node in the CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume the UE connectionbetween the control node in the CN and the gateway node in the CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume the UE connectionbetween the UE and the control node in the CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume the UE connectionbetween the UE and the gateway node in the CN;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume a user-plane UEconnection;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume a control-plane UEconnection;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume all the UEconnections;

requesting to resume, or requesting not to resume a designated UE bearertunnel and UE bearer information, wherein the UE bearer information isto index the suspended UE bearer context.

Preferably, the control-plane data transmission requirement informationincludes at least one of:

control-plane data transmission requirements;

the control-plane data transmission requirements with subsequentuser-plane data transmission requirements, the control-plane datatransmission requirements; or, the control-plane data transmissionrequirements, wherein the data packet of the control plane includesuser-plane data;

wherein the user-plane data transmission requirement informationincludes at least one of:

the user-plane data transmission requirements, the UE bearerinformation, a data transmission mode, wherein the UE bearer informationindicates a UE bearer with data transmission requirements, the datatransmission mode indicates whether to transmit through the controlplane or the user plane;

wherein the UE bearer information includes at least one of:

a UE bearer identity, a bear's quality of service (QoS) parameter, atransport layer address, a general data transfer platform (GTP) tunnelendpoint identifier (TEID), a non-access stratum (NAS) protocol dataunit (PDU), or a correlation ID.

Preferably, the message for carrying the resume requirement informationof the UE includes at least one of:

an initial UE message, a resume request message, a UE-context resumerequest message, a UE-connection resume request message, a UE contextmodify request, a downlink data notification, an attach request, atracking area update (TAU) request, a service request.

Preferably, the message for carrying the resume instruction informationassociated with the UE includes at least one of:

an initial UE context setup request, a downlink NAS transport message, aUE context modify request, a paging message, a resume response, a UEcontext resume response, a UE context resume reject, a UE connectionresume response, a UE connection resume reject, a create bearer request,a modify bearer request, a delete bearer request, an attach accept, anattach reject, a TAU accept, a TAU reject, a service request accept, aservice request reject.

Preferably, the resume instruction information associated with the UEincludes at least one of:

the transmission requirement information of the UE data, the first UEidentity, the second UE identity, UE context resume information, or UEconnection resume information.

Preferably, the UE context resume information includes at least one of:

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendingthe UE context;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendinga control-plane UE context;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendinga user-plane UE context;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendingthe UE context on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, oron the gateway node in the CN;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendingthe UE bearer contexts on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in theCN, on the gateway node in the CN;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendingthe UE bearer information of a specific UE bearer, wherein the UE bearerinformation is to index the suspended UE bearer context.

Preferably, the connection resume information of the UE includes atleast one of: a reason for refused resume, which includes at least oneof: no data transmission requirement, or no user-plane data transmissionrequirement;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendingthe UE connection;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendinga control-plane UE connection;

resuming, refusing, not resuming, deactivating or maintaining suspendinga user-plane UE connection;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE connection between the UEand the eNB;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE connection between the eNBand the control node in the CN;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE connection between the eNBand the gateway node in the CN;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE connection between thecontrol node in the CN and the gateway node in the CN;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE connection between the UEand the control node in the CN;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE connection between the UEand the gateway node in the CN;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending whether to resume the user-plane UEconnection;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending whether to resume the control-planeUE connection;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending whether to resume the UEconnection;

resuming, establishing, re-establishing, refusing, not resuming,deactivating, maintaining suspending the UE bearer information of aspecific UE bearer, wherein the UE bearer information is to index thesuspended UE bearer context.

Preferably, determining by the first node whether to resume the UEcontext and/or UE connection based on the resume requirement informationof the UE includes:

resuming, by the first node, the UE context and related UE connection,when the transmission requirement information of the UE data includes atleast one of: data transmission requirements, user-plane datatransmission requirements, control-plane data transmission requirementswith subsequent user-plane data transmission requirements, the datatransmission mode is through the user plane; wherein the UE contextresumed by the first node includes at least one of: the UE contexts onthe UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, on the gateway nodein the CN, wherein the UE context on the gateway node in the CN includesthe UE bearer context; wherein the related UE connection resumed by thefirst node includes at least one of: the UE connection between the UEand the eNB, the UE connection between the eNB and the control node inthe CN, the UE connection between the eNB and the gateway node in theCN; not resuming, or refusing to resuming, by the first node, the UEcontext and related UE connection, when the transmission requirementinformation of the UE data includes: no data transmission requirement;resuming, by the first node, at least one of: the UE contexts of the UE,the control node in the CN, the gateway node in the CN, which includethe UE bearer context; the UE context on the eNB, which does not includethe UE bearer context; the UE connection between the UE and the eNB, theUE connection between the control node in the CN and the gateway node inthe CN; when the transmission requirement information of the UE dataincludes: the user-plane data transmission requirements and the datatransmission mode is through the control plane; resuming, by the firstnode, the control-plane UE context and the control-plane UE connection;not resuming, or refusing to resume the user-plane UE context or theuser-plane UE connection or the UE bearer, when the transmissionrequirement information of the UE data includes: the control-plane datatransmission requirements or without user-plane data transmissionrequirement; wherein the first node resumes at least one of: the UEcontexts on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN; the UEconnection between the UE and the eNB, the UE connection between the eNBand the control node in the CN.

Preferably, the method further includes:

resuming, by the first node, the UE context of UE bearer with data and atunnel of UE connection of UE bearer with data, based on the UE bearerinformation in the transmission requirement information of the UE data.

The present disclosure also provides a device for controlling a UEcontext and UE connection, including an information obtaining module anda determining module, wherein:

the information obtaining module is to obtain resume requirementinformation of a UE; and, the determining module is to determine whetherto resume the UE context, and/or, the UE connection, based on the resumerequirement information of the UE.

Based on the foregoing technical solutions, it can be seen that afterdistinguishing scenarios with different data transmission requirements,UE context or UE connection may be resumed or newly establishedaccording to the requirement, thereby effectively reducing overheads ofsignaling resources, improving resource utilization, and creatingfavorable conditions for accessing by a huge number of UEs, especiallyinternet of thing (IOT) UEs.

Based on foregoing technical solution, it can be seen that afterdistinguishing scenarios with different data transmission requirements,resume or newly establish the UE context or UE connection based onrequirements, overheads of signaling resource may be effectivelyreduced. Meanwhile, resource utilization may be improved. And favorableconditions for accessing by a huge number of IOTUEs may be created.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the existing SAE system architecture;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a first method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a second method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a third method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a fourth method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a fifth method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a first method embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a second method embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a third method embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a fourth method embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a fifth method embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a sixth method embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a seventh method embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a device forcontrolling UE context and UE connection, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make objectives, technical solutions and advantages of thepresent disclosure more clear, the present disclosure is furtherdescribed in detail accompanying with attached figures and embodiments.

In order to meet requirements of transmitting and receiving small amountof non-continuous data, to save signaling overheads and to improve datatransmission efficiency, a solution is put forward in the prior art, inwhich the UE context is not released when releasing the UE connection.According to this solution, when a UE is disconnected from a network,the UE and the network still save and suspend the UE context, and whenthe UE accesses the network again, network entities do not need tocreate and transmit the UE context, and the network does not need toobtain the UE context from the UE. Instead, the network resumes the UEcontext suspended previously, in order to reduce signaling overheads.

The connection resume or resume UE connection mentioned in variousembodiments of the present disclosure may include the followingsituations:

newly establish, re-establish, activate the UE connection.

activate, resume context about the UE connection.

The connection suspending or suspend connection mentioned in variousembodiments of the present disclosure may include the followingsituations:

delete, deactivate the UE connection.

deactivate, suspend the context about the UE connection.

Non-resume mentioned in various embodiments of the present disclosuremay include the following situations:

refuse to resume, keep suspending.

Control node in a core network (CN) mentioned in various embodiments ofthe present disclosure may include the following situations:

MME, SGSN.

Gateway node in a CN mentioned in various embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include the following situations:

SGW, Gateway (GW), PGW.

Some basic terms used in this present disclosure will be explainedbriefly in the following:

The data exchanged between UE and control node in the CN belongs tocontrol plane data.

The UE connection between the eNB and control node in the CN belongs toconnection on the UE control plane.

Connection information of the UE control plane belongs to context of theUE control plane.

The data exchanged between UE and gateway node in the CN belongs to userplane data.

The UE connection between the eNB and gateway node in the CN belongs tothe UE connection on user plane.

Information/context of UE connection on user plane belongs to UE contextof user plane.

There are different UE bearer tunnels on the UE connection of userplane.

UE bearer information/UE context belongs to UE context of user plane.

In general, the data exchanged between the UE and gateway node in the CNrequires to establish a UE connection (UE bearer tunnel), which isbetween the eNB and the gateway node in the CN. The foregoing UEconnection is established and released by the control node in the CN.

There are many contents in the UE context, which may vary in differententities. For example, the UE context on the eNB includes, but notlimited to the following: UE context of each bearer, capabilities of theUE, UE mobile context, security context, UE identity. The UE context ofeach bearer includes, but not limited to the following: the UE identity,bearing QoS information of the UE, and the tunnel information of bearer(such as the Internet Protocol (IP) at the eNB's side, tunnel identity,the IP at the gateways side, tunnel identity).

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the following flow may beused.

The eNB requests the control node (such as MME) in the CN to suspend theUE context (e.g., when the eNB learns that the UE is no longer active,and no data is received or transmitted over a period of time, the eNBrequests the control node in the CN to suspend the UE context), and todelete the connection related to the UE.

After receiving the request from the eNB, the control node in the CNrequests the gateway node (such as SGW, line gateway (LGW), PGW) in theCN to delete the UE connection (such as S1-U) between the gateway nodeand the eNB. Subsequently, the control node in the CN suspends UEcontext, and replies to the request of the eNB.

The eNB then also requires UE to disconnect from the network. The UE andthe eNB suspend the UE context respectively.

Subsequently, when the UE has a requirement, the UE requests the eNB toestablish or resume the connection, and to resume the UE context (e.g.,when the UE needs to transmit and receive data, and the UE is going toaccess the same eNB; or, the UE receives a paging from the network,which informs the UE that there is data destined for the UE and the UEintends to access the same eNB); after receiving the request from theUE, the eNB requests the control node in the CN to establish the UEconnection between the eNB and the CN, and to resume the UE context.

After receiving the request from the eNB, the control node in the CNthen resumes the UE context, and requests the gateway node in the CN toestablish the UE connection with the eNB.

The UE may request the network to resume the UE context in differentscenes. For example, scene 1: the UE needs to transmit and receive userplane data, that is, the UE needs to transmit data to, or receive datafrom the gateway in the CN via the eNB.

Scene 2: the gateway node in the CN informs the control node in the CNthat there is data of the UE. And then, the control node in the CNissues a paging to the UE to receive data.

Scene 3: the UE needs to transmit and receive the control plane data.That is, the UE only needs to communicate with the control node in theCN, such as periodic tracking area update (TAU).

Scene 4: the UE needs to transmit and receive the user plane data.However, the user plane data is transmitted and received through thecontrol plane in the CN, such as non-access stratum protocol data unit(NAS PDU). The control node in the CN forwards the received UE data tothe gateway node in the CN. The control node in the CN forwards thereceived data of the gateway node in the CN to the UE.

As to scene 1 and scene 2, the following contents need to be resumed, inorder to meet the communication requirement of the UE: the UE, the eNB,the UE contexts about the control node and gateway node in the CN(especially the UE bearer context needs to be resumed), the UEconnection between the UE and the eNB, the UE connection between the eNBand the control node in the CN, and the UE connection between the eNBand the gateway node in the CN.

As to scene 3, the UE does not need to exchange data with the gatewaynode in the CN through the eNB. Thus, the UE and the network entity arenot required to resume the UE bearer context, and also are not requiredto resume the UE connection (such as S1-U tunnel) between the eNB andthe gateway node in the CN. However, the UE and the network entity arerequired to resume the following contents, so as to meet thecommunication requirements of the UE: the UE, the eNB, the UE contextsabout the control node and gateway node in the CN (not including the UEbearer context), the UE connection between the UE and the eNB, and theUE connection between the eNB and the control node in the CN.

As to scene 4, the UE does not need to exchange data with the gatewaynode in the CN through the eNB. However, the UE needs to exchange datawith the gateway node in the CN through the control node in the CN.Thus, it is not necessary to resume the UE bearer context on the eNB. Toimplement the communication between the UE and the control node in theCN, it is necessary to resume the following contents: the UE, the UEcontexts (including the UE bearer context) on the control node andgateway node in the CN, the UE context on the eNB (not including the UEbearer context), the UE connection between the UE and the eNB, and theUE connection between the control node in the CN and the gateway node inthe CN.

For the foregoing scenes, there are following problems at present.

Problem 1): UE-context resume requirements for various entities indifferent scenes are different from that for the UE connection betweenvarious entities. Resource waste and extra access delay may be resultedfrom resuming each UE context and each UE connection in all cases. Whenvarious resume behaviors executed in different scenarios aredifferentiated, foregoing four scenarios are not differentiated bycurrent UE, the eNB, the control node in the CN, etc.

Problem 2): the UE, the eNB and the control node in the CN do not learnhow to index the suspended context.

Problem 3): as to all the scenes, the UE context and UE connection areresumed firstly, and then data is transmitted and received. There isgenerally one data packet destined for the control node in the CN. Extrasignaling overheads may be resulted from transmitting the data packetwith signaling after resuming the connection.

Problem 4): user plane of the UE may include multiple bearers. Resourcewaste may be resulted from resuming all the bearers. In order to saveresources, determine to resume a bearer according to data transmissionrequirements of such bearer.

To solve the foregoing problems, the present disclosure provides variousmethods. In the various methods, different entities, such as the controlnode in the CN, the eNB and the UE, may determine resume behaviors of UEcontexts of different entities, and resume behaviors of UE connectionamong different entities.

In FIGS. 2 to 4, the control node in the CN determines resume behaviorsof the UE contexts of different entities, and resume behaviors of the UEconnection among different entities.

The UE-context resume behavior of different entities and UE-connectionresume behavior of different entities are determined by the control nodein the CN.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a first method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The control node in the CN determines the resumebehaviors of the UE context and the UE connection, which may include thefollowing blocks.

In block 201, a control node in a CN obtains resume requirementinformation of a UE.

Optionally, the control node in the CN may obtain resume requirementinformation of the UE from the UE, the eNB or the gateway node in theCN.

In some implementations, the resume requirement information of the UEmay be carried by, but not limited to, the following messages: aninitial UE message, a resume request message, a UE-context resumerequest message, a UE-connection resume request message, a UE contextmodify request, a downlink data notification, an attach request, a TAUrequest, a service request.

In some other implementations, the control node in the CN may obtain theresume requirement information of the UE, by means of receivingdifferent messages. For example, the control node in the CN receives theinitial UE message from the eNB, and learns at least one of: 1) it isnot necessary to resume the user-plane UE context and the user-plane UEconnection; 2) it is necessary to newly establish the UE context and UEconnection; 3) only resume the control-plane UE context andcontrol-plane UE connection; by receiving the resume request messagefrom the eNB, the control node in the CN learns that the UE requests toresume the UE context or UE connection; by receiving the downlink datanotification from the gateway in the CN, the control node in the CNlearns that there is data destined for the UE, and it is necessary toresume the UE context and the UE connection; by receiving the servicerequest, the control node in the CN learns that the UE needs to transmitdata, and it is necessary to resume the UE context and the UEconnection; the control node in the CN receives from the UE a controlplane message, e.g., the attach request, the TAU request, in which thecontrol plane message indicates whether there are subsequent user-planedata transmission requirements; when there is no subsequent user-planedata transmission requirement, it is necessary to resume or newlyestablish the control-plane UE context and control-plane UE connection,meanwhile it is not necessary to resume the user-plane UE context anduser-plane UE connection.

Optionally, the resume requirement information of the UE includes atleast one of: transmission requirement information of the UE data, afirst UE identity, a second UE identity, resume request information ofthe UE context, resume request information of the UE connection.

Optionally, the transmission requirement information of the UE data mayinclude at least one of: control-plane data transmission requirementinformation, user-plane data transmission requirement information,control plane packets (such as NAS PDU), user plane packets, UE bearerinformation, the reason of radio resource control (RRC) establishment.Based on control plane signaling in the control plane packet, such aswhether TAU request includes an active flag identity, the control nodein the CN may learn whether there is a data transport request, orwhether request to resume the UE connection. The reason of RRCestablishment may demonstrate the transmission requirements informationof the UE data, e.g., the originating signaling may demonstrate thecontrol-plane data transmission requirements, and originating datarepresents the user-plane data transmission requirements.

Optionally, the control-plane data transmission requirement informationmay include at least one of: the control-plane data transmissionrequirements; the control-plane data transmission requirements withsubsequent user-plane data transmission requirements; the control-planedata transmission requirements and a required control-plane data packetincludes user plane data. The data transport may be further divided intodata transmission and data reception, or uplink data and downlink data.The control-plane transmission requirement may be represented bysignaling request of the NAS layer, such as the attach request, the TAUrequest, and the service request, and so on.

Optionally, the user-plane data transmission requirement information mayinclude at least one of: user-plane data transmission requirements, theUE bearer information, the data transmission mode. The user-plane datatransmission requirements may be further divided into uplink user-planedata transmission requirements. The UE bearer information indicates thatthere is a UE bearer with data transmission requirements. The datatransmission mode indicates that the data is transmitted by the controlplane (such as NAS PDU) or by user plane (such as the UE bearer). The UEbearer information may include at least one of: UE bearer identity,bearer QoS parameter, transport layer address, General Packet RadioService tunneling protocol (GTP)-terminal endpoint identifier (TEID),NAS PDU, correlation identifier (ID).

Optionally, the first UE identity may include at least one of: cellradio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), Serving-Temporary MobileSubscriber Identity (S-TMSI), International Mobile SubscriberIdentification number (IMSI), TMSI, resume ID, MME UE S1 ApplicationProtocol (AP) ID, eNB UE S1AP ID, Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity(GUTI). The first UE identity is used to index the suspended UE context.

Optionally, the contents of the second UE ID are the same as that of thefirst UE ID, which are not repeated here. The second UE identity is usedto index the UE context to be established.

Optionally, the UE-context resume request information may include atleast one of:

request to establish or not to establish the UE context;

request to resume or not to resume the UE contexts on the UE, on theeNB, on the control node in the CN, on the gateway node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume the UE bearer contexts on the UE, onthe eNB, on the control node, on the gateway node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume a specific UE bearer context, UEbearer information. The UE bearer information has already been describedabove, which is not repeated here. The UE bearer information may be usedto index the suspended UE bearer context.

In some implementations, the UE context involved in the UE-contextresume request information may be further divided into control-plane UEcontext and user-plane UE context.

Optionally, the UE-connection resume request information may include atleast one of:

request to resume or not to resume the UE connection between the UE andthe eNB;

request to resume or not to resume the UE connection between the eNB andthe control node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume the UE connection between the eNB andthe gateway node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume the UE connection between the controlnode in the CN and the gateway node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume the UE connection between the UE andthe control node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume the UE connection between the UE andthe gateway node in the CN;

request to resume or not to resume the user-plane UE connection;

request to resume or not to resume the control-plane UE connection;

request to resume or not to resume all the UE connections;

request to resume or not to resume a specific UE bearer tunnel and UEbearer information. Here, the “specific” is “designated.” The UE bearerinformation has been described above, which will not be repeated here.The UE bearer information may be used to index the suspended UE bearercontext.

In some implementations, the UE connections involved in the resumerequest information of the UE connection may be further divided intocontrol-plane UE connection and user-plane UE connection.

In some implementations, UE-context resume or UE-connection resume meansthere are transmission requirements of UE data. The resume of user-planeUE connection or user-plane UE context indicates there are user-planetransmission requirements of the UE data. The resume of control-plane UEconnection or control-plane UE context indicates there are control-planetransmission requirements of the UE data.

In some implementations, transmission requirement information of the UEdata may indicate that there is a request for resuming the UE context orUE connection. Transmission requirements of the user-plane UE data mayindicate there is a request for resuming the user-plane UE connection orthe user-plane UE-context. Transmission requirements of thecontrol-plane UE data may indicate that there is a request for resumingthe control-plane UE connection or the control-plane UE context.

In block 202, the control node in the CN transmits resume instructioninformation associated with the UE.

Optionally, the control node in the CN synthetically determines whetherto resume the UE context and related UE connections, based on thereceived resume requirement information of the UE context, and transmitsresume instruction information associated with the UE.

Optionally, the control node in the CN transmits resume instructioninformation associated with the UE to the UE, the eNB, or other controlnodes in the CN. The resume instruction information associated with theUE may be carried, but not limited to the following messages: Initial UEContext Setup, NAS downlink transmission, UE context modify, pagingmessage, resume response, UE context resume response, UE context resumereject, UE connection resume response, UE connection resume reject,create bearer request, modify bearer request, delete bearer request,attach accept, attach reject, TAU accept, TAU reject, service requestaccept, service request reject.

Optionally, the resume instruction information associated with the UEincludes at least one of: transmission requirement information of the UEdata, a first UE identity, a second UE identity, UE-context resumeinformation, UE-connection resume information.

Optionally, the transmission requirement information of the UE data maybe the same as that in block 201, which will not be repeated here.

In some implementations, the control node in the CN may resume the UEcontext and related UE connections, when the transmission requirementinformation of the UE data includes at least one of: data transmissionrequirements, user-plane data transmission requirements, control-planedata transmission requirements with subsequent user-plane datatransmission requirements, data transmission mode is through the userplane. In some implementations, the UE context and related UEconnections resumed by the control node in the CN may include at leastone of: the UE contexts (in particular, the UE bearer context needs tobe resumed, the UE bearer context is the same as the UE bearerinformation in block 201, which is not repeated here) on the UE, on theeNB, on the control node in the CN, on the gateway node in the CN; theUE connection between the UE and the eNB, the UE connection between theeNB and the control node in the CN, the UE connection between the eNBand the gateway node in the CN. Furthermore, the control node in the CNmay resume the UE context of UE bearer with data and tunnels of UEconnection of UE bearer with data, based on the UE bearer information inthe transmission requirement information of the UE data.

In some implementations, when there is no data transmission requirement,the control node in the CN may not resume or refuse to resume the UEcontext and related UE connections.

In some implementations, when the transmission requirement informationof the UE data includes: user-plane data transmission requirements andthe data transmission mode is through the control plane, the controlnode in the CN may perform at least one of: does not resume or refusesto resume the UE connection between the eNB and the gateway node in theCN, does not resume the UE bearer context of the eNB. The control nodein the CN may resume at least one of: the UE contexts (including the UEbearer context) of the UE, the control node in the CN, the gateway nodein the CN, the UE context (not including the UE bearer context) of theeNB; the UE connection between the UE and the eNB, the UE connectionbetween the control node in the CN and the gateway node in the CN.Furthermore, the control node in the CN may also resume the UE contextof UE bearer with data and the tunnel of UE connection of UE bearer withdata, according to the UE bearer information in the transmissionrequirement information of the UE data.

In some implementations, when the transmission requirement informationof the UE data satisfies one of the following conditions: there is nouser-plane data transmission requirement, there are only thecontrol-plane data transmission requirements, the control node in the CNmay only resume the control-plane UE context and the control-plane UEconnection. The control node in the CN does not resume or refuse toresume user-plane UE context, or user-plane UE connection or UE bearer.The control node in the CN may resume at least one of: the UE context onthe UE, the UE context on the eNB, the UE context on the control node inthe CN; the UE connection between the UE and the eNB, the UE connectionbetween the eNB and the control node in the CN.

Optionally, the UE-context resume information may include at least oneof:

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending the UEcontext;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending thecontrol-plane UE context;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending theuser-plane UE context;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending the UEcontexts on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, on thegateway node in the CN;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending the UEbearer contexts on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, onthe gateway node in the CN;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending UEbearer information of a specific UE bearer. The UE bearer informationhas been described in block 201, which is not repeated here. The UEbearer information may be used to index the suspended UE bearer context.

In some implementations, resume of the UE context may indicate that itis necessary to resume related UE connections. For example, resume ofuser-plane UE context also indicates it is necessary to resume theuser-plane UE connection. Resume of the control-plane UE context alsoindicates it is necessary to resume the control-plane UE connection.

In some implementations, the UE contexts involved in the UE contextresume information are further divided into control-plane UE context anduser-plane UE context.

Optionally, the UE-connection resume information may include at leastone of:

reasons of refusing resume, which may be at least one of: there is nodata transmission requirement, there is no user-plane data transmissionrequirement;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending the UEconnection;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending thecontrol-plane UE connection;

resume, refuse, not to resume, deactivate or maintain suspending theuser-plane UE connection;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending the UE connection between the UE and the eNB;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending the UE connection between the eNB and the controlnode in the CN;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending the UE connection between the eNB and the gatewaynode in the CN;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending the UE connection between the control node in the CNand the gateway node in the CN;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending the UE connection between the UE and the controlnode in the CN;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending the UE connection between the UE and the gatewaynode in the CN;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending whether to resume the user-plane UE connection;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending whether to resume the control-plane UE connection;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending whether to resume the UE connection;

resume, establish, re-establish, refuse, not to resume, deactivate,maintain suspending UE bearer information of a specific UE bearer; theUE bearer information has already been described in block 201, whichwill not be repeated here. The UE bearer information may be used toindex the suspended UE bearer context.

In some implementations, the UE connections involved in UE-connectionresume information may be further divided into control-plane UEconnection and user-plane UE connection.

In some implementations, resume of related UE connections may alsoindicate that it is necessary to resume related UE context. For example,resume of user-plane UE connection also indicates it is necessary toresume the user-plane UE context. The resume of control-plane UEconnection also indicates it is necessary to resume the control-plane UEcontext.

Optionally, the first UE identity may be used to index the suspended UEcontext. The contents of the first UE identity may refer to block 201.

Optionally, the second UE identity may be used to index a new UEcontext. Designation of the second UE identity may indicate to deletethe UE context related to the second UE identity. The contents of thesecond UE identity may refer to block 201.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a second method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In the flow chart, based on theUE-context/UE-connection resume instruction information transmitted bythe a control node in the a CN, the an eNB establishes/resumes the UEconnection, which includes the following blocks.

In block 301, an eNB receives resume instruction information associatedwith a UE.

Optionally, the eNB may obtain the resume instruction informationassociated with the UE from the control node in the CN or the UE.

Optionally, the resume instruction information associated with the UEmay refer to block 202, which will not be repeated here.

In block 302, based on the received resume instruction informationassociated with the UE, the eNB performs a resume operation specified bythe resume instruction information associated with the UE to at leastone of: the UE context, the control-plane UE context, the user-plane UEcontext, the UE bearer context, the UE connection, the user-plane UEconnection, the control-plane UE connection, the UE bearer tunnel of theUE connection. The foregoing resume operation may include at least oneof: resume, re-establishment, no resume, deactivation, keepingsuspending. Specific operations have already been described in block202, which are not repeated here.

Optionally, the eNB may forward the resume instruction informationassociated with the UE to the UE.

Optionally, the eNB may synchronize an operation result for resuming theUE context to the UE.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a third method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In the flow chart, based on the receivedUE-context/UE-connection resume instruction information, the UEestablishes/resumes the UE connection, which may include the followingblocks.

In block 401, a UE receives resume instruction information associatedwith the UE.

Optionally, the UE may obtain the resume instruction informationassociated with the UE from the eNB or control node in the CN.

Optionally, the resume instruction information associated with the UEmay refer to block 202, which is not repeated here.

In block 402, based on the received resume instruction informationassociated with the UE, the UE performs a resume operation specified bythe resume instruction information associated with the UE to at leastone of: the UE context, the control-plane UE context, the user-plane UEcontext, the UE bearer context, the UE connection, the user-plane UEconnection, the control-plane UE connection, the UE bearer tunnel of theUE connection. The foregoing resume operation may include at least oneof: resume, re-establishment, no resume, deactivation, keep suspending.The specific operations have been described in block 202, which are notrepeated here.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart, in which the eNB determines UE-context resumebehavior of different entities, and UE-connection resume behavior ofdifferent entities.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a fourth method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, which may include the following blocks.

In block 501: an eNB obtains resume requirement information of a UE.

Optionally, the resume requirement information of the UE has beendescribed in block 201, which is not repeated here.

Optionally, the eNB may obtain the resume requirement information of theUE from the UE and/or the control node in the CN.

In some implementations, the eNB may obtain resume requirementinformation of the UE, based on paging information transmitted by thecontrol node in the CN. The eNB can learn whether the UE context issuspended, by using the first UE identity in the resume requirementinformation of the UE to index. The eNB can also index the suspended UEbearer context, by using the UE bearer information in the resumerequirement information of the UE. The eNB can learn there are UE-datatransmission requirements from the paging message. When the UE accessesthe eNB, the eNB can transmit UE-context/UE-connection resume request tothe control node in the CN for the UE, requesting to resume the UEcontext/UE connection or to resume user-plane UE context/user-plane UEconnection. The eNB can transmit resume requirement information of theUE to the control node in the CN, as described in block 201.

In block 502: the eNB determines whether to transmit resume requirementinformation of the UE or resume instruction information associated withthe UE, based on the transmission requirement information of the UEdata.

Optionally, the eNB comprehensively determines whether to resume UEcontext and related UE connections, based on the received resumerequirement information of the UE. The specific determination manner isconsistent with that described in block 202, which will not be repeatedhere. The resume requirement information of the UE has been described inblock 201.

Optionally, the resume instruction information associated with the UEhas been described in block 202. When determining whether to transmitthe resume instruction information associated with the UE, based on thetransmission requirement information of the UE data, the specificoperations performed by the eNB are consistent with that described inblock 202, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the eNB may transmit the resume requirement information ofthe UE to the control node in the CN. Based on the request of the eNB,the control node in the CN performs an operation to at least one of theUE context, the control-plane UE context, the user-plane UE context, theUE bearer context, the UE connection, the user-plane UE connection, thecontrol-plane UE connection, the UE bearer tunnel of UE connection. Theforegoing operation may include at least one of: resume,re-establishment, no resume, deactivation or keeping suspending.Specific operations have been described in block step 202, which are notrepeated here.

In some implementations, the eNB may request the control node in the CNto resume the UE context and related UE connections, when at least oneof following conditions is met. There are data transmissionrequirements; there are user-plane data transmission requirements; thereare control-plane data transmission requirements with subsequentuser-plane data transmission requirements; the data transmission mode isthrough the user plane bearer. The eNB requests the control node in theCN to resume the UE context and related UE connections. The foregoing UEcontext and related UE connections may include at least one of: the UEcontexts (especially the UE bearer context needs to be resumed) on theUE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, on the gateway node inthe CN; the UE connection between the eNB and the UE, the UE associatedconnection between the eNB and the control node in the CN, the UEconnection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN. Besides,based on the UE bearer identity in the transmission requirementinformation of the UE data, the control node in the CN may also resumethe UE contexts of UE bearer with data, and tunnels of UE connection ofUE bearer with data. The UE bearer information is described in block201. The UE connections may be further divided into control-plane UEconnection and user-plane UE connection. The UE contexts may be furtherdivided into control-plane UE context and user-plane UE context.

In some implementations, when there are user-plane data transmissionrequirements and data transmission mode is through the control plane,the eNB can request the control node in the CN to resume at least oneof: the UE contexts (including the UE bearer context) of the UE, thecontrol node in the CN, the gateway node in the CN, the UE context (notincluding the UE bearer context) of the eNB; the UE connection betweenthe UE and the eNB, the UE connection between the control node in the CNand the gateway node in the CN. Furthermore, based on the UE beareridentity in the transmission requirement information of the UE data, thecontrol node in the CN may also resume the UE contexts of UE bearer withdata, and tunnels of UE connection of UE bearer with data. The UE bearerinformation has been described in block 201. The UE connections may befurther divided into control-plane UE connection and user-plane UEconnection. The UE contexts may be further divided into control-plane UEcontext and user-plane UE context.

In some implementation, when there are only control-plane datatransmission requirements, the eNB may request the control node in theCN to perform at least one of: 1) transmit a connection establishmentrequest (such as initial UE message), or request to newly establish theUE context; 2) request to resume at least one of: the UE contexts (notincluding the UE bearer context) on the UE, on the eNB, on the controlnode in the CN, on the gateway node in the CN; the UE connection betweenthe UE and the eNB, the UE connection between the eNB and the controlnode in the CN. The UE bearer information has been described in block201. The UE connections may be further divided into control-plane UEconnection and user-plane UE connection. The UE contexts may be furtherdivided into control-plane UE context and user-plane UE context.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart, in which the UE determines UE-context resumebehavior of different entities, and UE-connection resume behavior ofdifferent entities.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a fifth method for controlling UEcontext and UE connection, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, which may include the following blocks.

In block 601, a UE obtains resume requirement information of the UE.

Optionally, the UE may obtain the resume requirement information of theUE from the upper layer of the UE, from the eNB, from the control nodein the CN or from the gateway node in the CN.

In some implementation, the UE may obtain resume requirement informationof the UE by receiving a paging message. The UE can index the suspendedUE context, based on the first UE identity index in the resumerequirement information of the UE; or, the UE can index the suspended UEbearer context, based on the UE bearer information in the resumerequirement information of the UE. The UE can learn that there aretransmission requirements of the UE data with the paging message.

In block 602, the UE determines whether request to resume the UEcontext/UE connection.

Optionally, the UE may transmit resume requirement information of theUE, or resume instruction information associated with the UE to anetwork node, such as the eNB or the control node in the CN.

Optionally, the resume requirement information of the UE is described inblock 201, which is not repeated here.

Optionally, the resume instruction information associated with the UE isdescribed in block 202, which is not repeated here.

In some implementations, the UE may request the network node to resumeUE context and related UE connection, when at least one of the followingconditions is met: there are data transmission requirements; there areuser-plane data transmission requirements; there are control-plane datatransmission requirements with subsequent user-plane data transmissionrequirements, or data transmission mode is through the user plane. Theforegoing UE context and related UE connections may include at least oneof: the UE contexts (especially the UE bearer context needs to beresumed) on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, on thegateway node in the CN; the UE connection between the eNB and the UE,the UE connection between the eNB and the control node in the CN, the UEconnection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN. Furthermore,based on the UE bearer information in the transmission requirementinformation of the UE data, the control node in the CN may resume onlythe UE context of the UE bearer with data, and tunnels of the UE bearerwith data in the UE connection. The UE connections may be furtherdivided into control-plane UE connection and user-plane UE connection.The UE contexts may be further divided into control-plane UE context anduser-plane UE context.

In some implementations, when there are user-plane data transmissionrequirements and data transmission mode is through the control plane,the UE can request the control node in the CN to resume at least one of:the UE contexts (including the UE bearer context) on the UE, on thecontrol node in the CN, on the gateway node in the CN; the UE context(not including the UE bearer context) on the eNB; the UE connectionbetween the UE and the eNB, the UE connection between the control nodein the CN and the gateway node in the CN. Furthermore, based on the UEbearer information in the transmission requirement information of the UEdata, the control node in the CN may only resume the UE contexts of UEbearer with data, and tunnels of UE bearer with data of UE connection.The UE bearer information has been described in block 201. The UEconnections may be further divided into control-plane UE connection anduser-plane UE connection. The UE contexts may be further divided intocontrol-plane UE context and user-plane UE context.

In some implementations, when there are only control-plane datatransmission requirements, the UE may request a network node to performat least one of: 1) transmit a connection establishment request (such asinitial UE message), or request to newly establish the UE context; 2)request to resume at least one of: the UE contexts (not including the UEbearer context) on the UE, on the eNB, on the control node in the CN, onthe gateway node in the CN; the UE connection between the UE and theeNB, the UE connection between the eNB and the control node in the CN.Control-plane data transmission requirements may be carried in theinitial UE message, or UE-context/UE-connection resume request message.

In some implementations, the eNB may transmit an initial UE message tothe control node in the CN, so as to establish a new UE context, basedon the received UE connection establishment request message. The eNB mayalso transmit the UE-context/UE-connection resume request to the controlnode in the CN, after indexing the UE context with the receivedUE-connection resume request.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a first method embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the embodiment, suppose previous UE connection andprevious UE context have been suspended, the method may include thefollowing blocks.

In block 701, a UE transmits an RRC connection resume request to an eNB.The RRC connection resume request may be carried in an RRC connectionreestablishment message, an RRC connection establishment request messageor a new RRC message. The foregoing messages may indicate the resumerequirement information of the UE. The resume requirement information ofthe UE may refer to block 201, which will not be repeated here. Theremay be uplink control-plane data transmission requirements of the UE.

In block 702, the eNB transmits an RRC connection resume accept to theUE. The RRC connection resume accept may be carried in the RRCconnection reestablishment message, the RRC connection establishmentmessage or a new RRC message.

In block 703, the UE may transmit RRC connection resume complete to theeNB. The RRC connection resume complete may be carried in the RRCconnection reestablishment complete, the RRC connection establishmentcomplete or the new RRC message. The foregoing messages may indicate theresume requirement information of the UE. The resume requirementinformation of the UE may refer to block 201, which is not repeatedhere.

In block 704, the eNB transmits a resume request message to the controlnode in the CN. The resume request can be carried in the resume requestmessage and the initial UE message. The resume request may indicateresume requirement information of the UE. The resume requirementinformation of the UE may refer to block 201, which is not repeatedhere.

The control node in the CN determines whether to resume the UEconnection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN, according tothe resume requirement information of the UE. Specific blocks may referto block 202, which are not repeated here. In some implementations, whendetermining there are only the control-plane data transmissionrequirements of the UE, the control node in the CN may not resume the UEbearing context, and the UE connection between the eNB and the gatewaynode in the CN. That is, the control node in the CN may not trigger amodify bearer request to the gateway node in the CN. When determiningthere are user-plane data transmission requirements for the UE inaddition to the control-plane data transmission requirements (such asthe control node in the CN just receives a downlink data notification ofthe UE), the control node in the CN needs to resume the UE bearercontext and the UE connection between the eNB and the gateway node inthe CN. When resume is implemented, proceed with blocks 705 to 708,otherwise, proceed with blocks 709 to 710.

In block 705, the control node in the CN determines to resume theuser-plane UE connection, and transmits a modify bearer request messageto the gateway node in the CN. The modify bearer request messageindicates the transport layer address and TEID of the UE bearer in theeNB.

In block 706, the control node in the CN receives a modify bearerresponse message from the gateway node in the CN.

In block 707, the control node in the CN transmits a resume response tothe eNB. The resume response may be carried in the resume responsemessage of the UE, an initial context establishment request message, adownlink NAS transport message. The resume response includes resumeinstruction information associated with the UE, which may refer to block202. In some implementations, the message may indicate to resume the UEbearer context or the UE context. Alternatively, Block 707 may beexecuted before block 705.

In block 708, the eNB executes corresponding operations based on thereceived UE context resume instruction, which has been described inblock 302, and is not repeated here. When the UE context indicated bythe resume response is inconsistent with the UE context previouslyresumed by the RRC, the eNB transmits an RRC connection resume update tothe UE. The RRC connection resume update can be carried in the RRCconnection resume update message or RRC connection reconfigurationmessage. The RRC connection resume update includes resume instructioninformation associated with the UE, which has been described in block202. In some implementations, the message may indicate to resume the UEbearer context or the UE context. The UE executes correspondingoperations according to the received UE context resume instruction,which have been described in block 402 and are not repeated here. Thus,the flow chart may be terminated.

In block 709, when it is not necessary to resume the user plane of theUE or the UE context cannot be searched out, the control node in the CNtransmits a resume refuse to the eNB. The resume refuse may be carriedby the resume reject message, resume response message, initial contextsetup request message, downlink NAS transport message, UE contextrelease. The UE context resume refuse may include the resume instructioninformation associated with the UE, which has been described in block202. In some implementations, the message may indicate not to resume orrefuse to resume the UE context or the UE bearer context.

In block 710, the eNB executes corresponding operations based on thereceived UE context resume instruction, which has been described inblock 302 and is not repeated here. When the UE context indicated by theresume refuse is inconsistent with the UE context previously resumed bythe RRC, the eNB transmits an RRC connection resume update to the UE.The RRC connection resume update may be included carried in the RRCconnection resume update message or RRC connection reconfigurationmessage. The message may include resume instruction informationassociated with the UE, which has been described in block 202. In someimplementations, the message may indicate not to resume the UE bearercontext or the UE context. Alternatively, the message may indicate torefuse to resume the UE bearer context or the UE context. The UEexecutes corresponding operations according to the received UE contextresume instruction, which has been described in block 402 and is notrepeated here. Thus, the flow chart is terminated.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a second method embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the embodiment, suppose previous UE connection and UEcontext are suspended, the method may include the following blocks.

In block 801, a control node in a CN receives a downlink datanotification from a gateway node of the CN.

In block 802, the control node in the CN learns a related UE is in anidle state, and UE context is suspended. The control node in the CNtransmits a paging message of the UE to the eNB. Optionally, the messagemay include resume requirement information of the UE. The resumerequirement information of the UE is described in block 201, which isnot repeated here. The eNB can know learn whether the UE context issuspended, by using the first UE identity index in the resumerequirement information of the UE. Or, the e NB indexes the suspended UEbearer context, by using the UE bearer information in the resumerequirement information about the UE; the eNB can learn there are UEdata transmission requirements with the paging message. When the UEaccesses the eNB, the eNB can replace the UE to transmit UE context/UEconnection resume request to the control node in the CN, requesting toresume the UE context/UE connection or requesting to resume user-planeUE context/user-plane UE connection. Specific operations are describedin block 501, which are not repeated here.

In block 803, the eNB transmits the paging message to the UE. Themessage may include the resume requirement information of the UE. The UEobtains the resume requirement information of the UE, and determineswhether request to resume the UE context/UE connection, as described inblock 601.

Blocks 804 to 811 are the same as blocks 701 to 708, which are notrepeated here

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a third method embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the embodiment, suppose previous UE connection and UEcontext have been suspended, the method may include the followingblocks.

In block 901, a UE transmits an RRC connection resume request to an eNB.Optionally, the RRC connection resume request may be carried by an RRCconnection reestablishment message, an RRC connection establishmentrequest message, or a new RRC message. Optionally, the message mayindicate the resume requirement information of the UE. The resumerequirement information of the UE may refer to block 201, which is notrepeated here. In some implementations, when there are uplinkcontrol-plane data transmission requirements of the UE with subsequentuser-plane data transmission requirements, or when the UE has user-planedata transmission requirements, the UE indicates the resume requirementinformation of the UE in the message. In addition, the data transmissionmode is the user plane bearer.

In block 902, the eNB transmits an RRC connection resume accept to theUE. Optionally, the RRC connection resume accept may be carried in anRRC connection reestablishment message, an RRC connection establishmentmessage or a new RRC message.

In block 903, the UE transmits RRC connection resume complete to theeNB. Optionally, the RRC connection resume complete may be carried inthe RRC connection reestablishment complete, an RRC connectionestablishment complete or a new RRC message. Optionally, the messageindicates the resume requirement information of the UE. The resumerequirement information of the UE may refer to block 201, which is notrepeated here.

In block 904, the eNB transmits a resume request to the control node inthe CN. Optionally, the resume request indicates the resume requirementinformation of the UE. The resume requirement information of the UE mayrefer to block 201, which is not repeated here.

The control node in the CN determines whether to resume the UEconnection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN, based on theresume requirement information of the UE, which has been described inblock 202 and is not repeated. In some implementations, the control nodein the CN determines whether to recover the UE connection between theeNB and the gateway node in the CN, based on the resume requirementinformation of the UE, which has been described in block 202 and is notrepeated. The control node in the CN determines there are user-planedata transmission requirements for the UE, in addition to thecontrol-plane data transmission requirements (e.g., the control node inthe CN just receives a downlink data notification of the UE, or the UEindicates there are subsequent user-plane data transmissionrequirements), or there are only the user-plane data transmissionrequirements. In addition, the data transmission mode is the user plane.It is necessary to resume the UE bearer context, and the UE connectionbetween the eNB and the gateway node in the CN.

Blocks 905 to 908 are the same as blocks 705 to 708, which are notrepeated here.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the embodiment, suppose previous UE connection and UEcontext are suspended, the method may include the following blocks.

In block 1001, a UE transmits an RRC connection resume request to aneNB. Optionally, the RRC connection resume request may be carried in anRRC connection reestablishment message, an RRC connection establishmentrequest message, or a new RRC message. Optionally, the message indicatesthe resume requirement information of the UE. The resume requirementinformation of the UE may refer to block 201, which is not repeatedhere. In some implementations, when there are uplink control-plane datatransmission requirements of the UE, accompanying with subsequentuser-plane data transmission requirements of the UE, or when the UE hasuser-plane data transmission requirements, the message indicates theresume requirement information of the UE. In addition, the datatransmission mode is the control plane.

In block 1002, the eNB transmits an RRC connection resume accept to theUE. Optionally, the RRC connection resume accept may be carried in theRRC connection reestablishment message, the RRC connection establishmentmessage, or new RRC message.

In block 1003, optionally, the UE transmits RRC connection resumecomplete to the eNB. Optionally, the RRC connection resume complete maybe carried in the RRC connection reestablishment complete message, theRRC connection establishment complete message, or the new RRC message.The resume requirement information of the UE may refer to block 201,which is not repeated here.

In block 1004, the eNB transmits a resume request to the control node inthe CN. Optionally, the resume request indicates the resume requirementinformation of the UE. The resume requirement information of the UE mayrefer to block 201, which is not repeated here.

The control node in the CN determines whether to resume the UEconnection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN, based on theresume requirement information of the UE, which has been described inblock 202 and is not repeated here. In some implementations, the controlnode in the CN determines there are user-plane data transmissionrequirements for the UE, in addition to the control-plane datatransmission requirements of the UE (e.g., the control node in the CNjust receives a downlink data notification of the UE, or the UEindicates there are subsequent user-plane data transmissionrequirements), or there are only the user-plane data transmissionrequirements. In addition, the data transmission mode is the controlplane. It is necessary to resume the UE connection between the controlnode in the CN and the gateway node in the CN. However, it is notnecessary to resume the UE bearer context of the eNB.

In block 1005, the control node in the CN determines to resume theuser-plane UE connection, and transmits a modify bearer request messageto the gateway node in the CN. The modify bearer request messageindicates the transport layer address and TEID of the UE bearer in thecontrol node of the CN.

In block 1006, the control node in the CN receives a modify carrierresponse message from the gateway node in the CN.

In block 1007, the control node in the CN transmits a resume responsemessage or resume reject to the eNB. Optionally, the resume response maybe carried by the resume response message, the initial contextestablishment request message, the downlink NAS transport message.Optionally, the resume reject may be carried by the resume rejectmessage, the initial context establishment request message, the downlinkNAS transport message. Optionally, the resume response or resume rejectmay include the resume instruction information associated with the UE,which has been described in block 202. In some implementations, themessage may indicate as follows. Refuse to resume, or, it is notnecessary to resume the user-plane UE context or the user-plane UEconnection. The message may further indicate as follows. Refuse toresume, or it is not necessary to resume the UE bearer context. The UEbearer context has been described in block 202. Block 1007 may also beexecuted before block 1005.

In block 1008, the eNB executes corresponding operations, based on thereceived UE context resume instruction, which has been described inblock 302 and is not repeated here. Optionally, when the UE contextindicated by the resume reject is inconsistent with the UE contextpreviously resumed by the RRC, the eNB transmits an RRC connectionresume update to the UE. The RRC connection resume update can beincluded in the RRC connection resume update message or RRC connectionreconfiguration message. The RRC connection resume update includes theresume instruction information associated with the UE, which has beendescribed in block 202. The message may indicate the following contents.Refuse to resume the user-plane UE context or the user-plane UEconnection. Or, it is not necessary to resume the user-plane UE contextor the user-plane UE connection. The message may further indicate thefollowing contents. Refuse to resume the UE bearer context. Or, it isnot necessary to resume the UE bearer context. The UE bearer context hasbeen described in block 202.

The UE executes corresponding operation, based on the received UEcontext resume instruction, which is described in block 402 and is notrepeated here.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a fifth method embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the embodiment, suppose previous UE connection and UEcontext are suspended, the method may include the following blocks.

In block 1101, in some implementations, there are only control-planedata transmission requirements of a UE. The UE transmits an RRCconnection resume request to an eNB. Optionally, the RRC connectionresume request may be carried in the RRC connection reestablishmentmessage, the RRC connection establishment request message or the new RRCmessage. Optionally, the message indicates the resume requirementinformation of the UE. The resume requirement information of the UE hasbeen described in block 201, which is not repeated here.

In block 1102, the eNB transmits an RRC connection resume accept to theUE. Optionally, the RRC connection resume accept may be carried by theRRC connection reestablishment message, the RRC connection establishmentmessage or the new RRC message.

In block 1103, optionally, the UE may transmit an RRC connection resumecomplete to the eNB. Optionally, the RRC connection resume complete maybe carried by the RRC connection reestablishment complete, the RRCconnection establishment complete, or the new RRC message. The resumerequirement information of the UE has been described in block 201, whichis not repeated here.

In block 1104, the eNB transmits an initial UE message to the controlnode in the CN. Optionally, the initial UE message may indicate theresume requirement information of the UE. The resume requirementinformation of the UE has been described in block 201, which is notrepeated here.

Optionally, the initial UE message may include the second UE identity,that is, the UE identity of the eNB side of the new UE context, e.g.,eNB UE S1AP ID or the UE identity with the suspended UE context. If theinitial UE message includes the UE identity of the new UE context, whendetermining to resume the suspended UE context, the control node in theCN indicates the second UE identity, and requests the eNB to delete theUE context associated with the second UE identity; when determining tonewly establish UE context for the UE, the control node in the CNassigns a new UE identity at the eNB side, such as MME UE S1AP ID.

The control node in the CN determines whether to resume the UEconnection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN, based on theresume requirement information of the UE, which has been described inblock 202 and is not repeated here. In some implementations, whendetermining there are only the control-plane data transmissionrequirements for the UE, the control node in the CN establishes a new UEcontext, instead of resuming the UE bearer context and the UE connectionbetween the eNB and the gateway node in the CN. In some otherimplementations, when determining there are user-plane data transmissionrequirements for the UE, in addition to the control-plane datatransmission requirements (e.g., the control node in the CN justreceives a downlink data notification of the UE), the control node inthe CN needs to resume the UE bearer context and the UE connectionbetween the eNB and the gateway node in the CN.

When needing to resume the UE bearer context and the UE connectionbetween the eNB and the gateway node in the CN, proceed with blocks 1105to 1109; when it is not necessary to resume the UE bearer context andthe UE connection between the eNB and the gateway node in the CN,proceed with blocks 1110 to 1113.

In block 1105, the control node in the CN determines to resume theuser-plane UE connection, and transmits a modify bearer request messageto the gateway node in the CN. The modify bearer request messageindicates the transport layer address and TEID of the UE bearer at theeNB side.

In block 1106, the control node in the CN receives a modify bearerresponse message from the gateway node in the CN.

In block 1107, the control node in the CN transmits a resume command tothe eNB. Optionally, the resume command includes the resume instructioninformation associated with the UE, which has been described in block202. In some implementations, the message may indicate to resume the UEcontext or the UE bearer context. Optionally, the message may includethe eNB-side UE identity assigned by the eNB, which means as follows.The control node in the CN requests the eNB to delete the UE contextrelated with the UE identity. Block 1107 may be executed before block1105.

In block 1108, the eNB executes corresponding operations based on thereceived UE context resume instruction, which has been described inblock 302 and is not repeated here. Optionally, when the UE contextindicated by the resume instruction is inconsistent with the UE contextpreviously resumed by the RRC, the eNB transmits an RRC connectionresume update to the UE. Optionally, the RRC connection resume updatemay be carried by the RRC connection resume update message or RRCconnection reconfiguration message. Optionally, the message may includethe resume instruction information associated with the UE, which hasbeen described in block 202. In some implementations, the message mayindicate to resume the UE context or the UE bearer context. The UEexecutes corresponding operations, based on the received UE contextresume instruction, which has been described in block 402 and is notrepeated here.

In block 1109, the eNB returns a resume complete to the control node inthe CN.

In block 1110, the control node in the CN transmits a downlink NAStransport message to the eNB, in which the downlink NAS transportmessage includes a NAS data packet. In some implementations, the messagemay indicate not to resume, or refuse to resume, or keep suspending theUE context or the UE bearer context.

In block 1111, the eNB transmits the NAS data packet to the UE with adownlink information transport message. In some implementations, thedownlink information transport message may indicate not to resume, orrefuse to resume, or keep suspending the UE context or the UE bearercontext.

In block 1112, the transmission of the NAS data packet is completed. TheUE is no longer active. The eNB transmits a UE context delete request tothe control node in the CN, indicates the newly assigned identity of theUE context (e.g., eNB UE S1AP ID, MME UE S1AP ID), and requests thecontrol node in the CN to delete the UE context associated with theidentity.

In block 1113, the control node in the CN deletes the related UEcontext, and returns a UE context delete response to the eNB. The eNBthen releases the UE connection.

Until now, the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 11 is terminated.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a sixth method embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the embodiment, suppose previous UE connection and UEcontext are suspended, the method may include the following blocks.

In block 1201, an RRC connection between a UE and an eNB is resumed.Optionally, the UE may transmit resume requirement information of the UEto the eNB. The resume requirement information of the UE may refer toblock 201, which is not repeated here. In some implementations, the eNBlearns that there are only the control-plane data transmissionrequirements for the UE, based on the resume requirement information ofthe UE. And then, the eNB does not resume, or continues suspending theuser-plane UE context and the user-plane UE connection.

In block 1202, the eNB transmits a resume request message to the controlnode in the CN. Optionally, the resume request message may indicate theresume requirement information of the UE. The resume requirementinformation of the UE may refer to block 201, which is not repeatedhere.

The control node in the CN learns that there are only the control-planedata transmission requirements for the UE, based on the resumerequirement information of the UE transmitted by the eNB.

In block 1203, in the meantime, the control node in the CN just receivesthe resume requirement information of the UE from the gateway node inthe CN, and learns that there is downlink user-plane UE data. Thecontrol node in the CN determines to resume the user-plane UE contextand the user-plane UE connection, that is, the UE connection between theeNB and the gateway node in the CN, which has been described in block202 and is not repeated here.

In block 1204, the control node in the CN transmits a modify bearerrequest message to the gateway node in the CN. The modify bearer requestmessage indicates the transport layer address and TEID of the UE bearerin the eNB.

In block 1205, the control node in the CN receives a modify bearerresponse message from the gateway node in the CN.

In block 1206, the control node in the CN transmits a resume responsemessage to the eNB. Optionally, the resume response message may includethe resume instruction information associated with the UE. In someimplementations, the resume instruction information associated with theUE may indicate to resume the user-plane UE context or the user-plane UEconnection. The resume instruction information associated with the UEmay further specify the UE bearer context to be resumed. The UE bearercontext information has been described in block 201. Block 1206 may beexecuted before block 1204.

In block 1207, the eNB executes corresponding operations based on thereceived UE context resume instruction, which has been described inblock 302 and is not repeated here. Optionally, when the UE contextindicated by the resume command is inconsistent with the UE contextpreviously resumed by the RRC, the eNB transmits an RRC connectionresume update to the UE. Optionally, the RRC connection resume updatemay be carried by the RRC connection resume update message or RRCconnection reconfiguration message. Optionally, the message may includethe resume instruction information associated with the UE, which hasbeen described in block 202. Until now, the flowchart illustrated withFIG. 12 is terminated.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating how to control UE context and UEconnection, in accordance with a seventh method embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In the embodiment, the NAS PDU has been added duringthe resume process, so as to save the signaling needed when transmittingthe control-plane signaling. The method may include the followingblocks.

In block 1301, during the process of transmitting by an eNB a resumerequest to a control node in a CN, after receiving control-plane data ofa UE, the control-plane data of the UE may be transmitted to the controlnode in the CN with the resume request. On one hand, signaling overheadsfor transmitting the control-plane data may be saved. On the other hand,transmit the resume requirement information of the UE to the controlnode in the CN.

In block 1302, during the process of transmitting by the control node inthe CN a resume response to the eNB, when there is control-plane datadestined for the UE, the control-plane data may be transmitted to theeNB with the resume response, so as to save the signaling overheads fortransmitting the control-plane data.

Based on foregoing technical solution, it can be seen that afterdistinguishing scenarios with different data transmission requirements,resume or newly establish the UE context or UE connection based onrequirements, overheads of signaling resource may be effectivelyreduced. Meanwhile, resource utilization may be improved. And favorableconditions for accessing by a huge number of IOTUEs may be created.

Corresponding to the foregoing method, the present disclosure alsoprovides a device for controlling the UE context and UE connection.Structure of the device may refer to FIG. 14. The device includes aninformation obtaining module and a determining module.

The information obtaining module is to obtain resume requirementinformation of the UE.

The determining module is to determine whether to resume the UE context,and/or, UE connection, based on the resume requirement information ofthe UE.

The foregoing is only preferred embodiments of the present disclosure,which is not for use in limiting the present disclosure. Anymodifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within thespirit and principles of the present disclosure, should be covered bythe protection scope of the present disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a core network nodefor handling a control plane in a mobile communication system, themethod comprising: receiving, from a terminal, a first message includingfirst information indicating whether the terminal supports atransmission of user data over a control plane connection; transmitting,to the terminal, a second message including second informationindicating whether the core network node accepts the transmission ofuser data over the control plane connection, as a response to the firstmessage; and receiving, from the terminal, user data over the controlplane connection, wherein the user data is included in a payload of anon-access stratum (NAS) message.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst message includes a message to request a registration of theterminal and the second message includes a message to accept theregistration of the terminal.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein a userplane connection for the transmission of user data is not established.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether thecore network node and the terminal only use the control plane connectionwithout an establishment of a user plane connection, based on the firstinformation.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user data isforwarded to the core network node for handling a user plane.
 6. A corenetwork node for handling a control plane in a mobile communicationsystem, the core network node comprising: a transceiver configured totransmit and receive a signal; and a controller coupled with thetransceiver and configured to: receive, from a terminal, a first messageincluding first information indicating whether the terminal supports atransmission of user data over a control plane connection, transmit, tothe terminal, a second message including second information indicatingwhether the core network node accepts the transmission of user data overthe control plane connection, as a response to the first message, andreceive, from the terminal, user data over the control plane connection,wherein the user data is included in a payload of a non-access stratum(NAS) message.
 7. The core network node of claim 6, wherein the firstmessage includes a message to request a registration of the terminal andthe second message includes a message to accept the registration of theterminal.
 8. The core network node of claim 6, wherein a user planeconnection for the transmission of user data is not established.
 9. Thecore network node of claim 6, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to determine whether the core network node and the terminalonly use the control plane connection without an establishment of a userplane connection, based on the first information.
 10. The core networknode of claim 6, wherein the user data is forwarded to the core networknode for handling a user plane.
 11. A method performed by a terminal ina mobile communication system, the method comprising: transmitting, to acore network node for handling a control plane, a first messageincluding first information indicating whether the terminal supports atransmission of user data over a control plane connection; receiving,from the core network node, a second message including secondinformation indicating whether the core network node accepts thetransmission of user data over the control plane connection, as aresponse to the first message; and transmitting, to the core networknode, user data over the control plane connection, wherein the user datais included in a payload of a non-access stratum (NAS) message.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the first message includes a message torequest a registration of the terminal and the second message includes amessage to accept the registration of the terminal, wherein a user planeconnection for the transmission of user data is not established, whereinwhether the core network node and the terminal only use the controlplane connection without an establishment of the user plane connectionis determined by the core network node, based on the first information,and wherein the user data is forwarded to the core network node forhandling a user plane.
 13. A terminal in a mobile communication system,the terminal comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit andreceive a signal; and a controller coupled with the transceiver andconfigured to: transmit, to a core network node for handling a controlplane, a first message including first information indicating whetherthe terminal supports a transmission of user data over a control planeconnection, receive, from the core network node, a second messageincluding second information indicating whether the core network nodeaccepts the transmission of user data over the control plane connection,as a response to the first message, and transmit, to the core networknode, user data over the control plane connection, wherein the user datais included in a payload of a non-access stratum (NAS) message.
 14. Theterminal of claim 13, wherein the first message includes a message torequest a registration of the terminal and the second message includes amessage to accept the registration of the terminal, wherein a user planeconnection for the transmission of user data is not established, andwherein whether the core network node and the terminal only use thecontrol plane connection without an establishment of the user planeconnection is determined by the core network node, based on the firstinformation.
 15. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein the userdata is forwarded to the core network node for handling a user plane.